Four years of study, debate could come to an end this week with Quebec’s likely adoption of landmark euthanasia legislation, rushed into law ahead of an anticipated provincial election.

MONTREAL—Four years of study, debate and hand-wringing could come to an end this week with Quebec’s likely adoption of landmark euthanasia legislation, rushed into law ahead of an anticipated provincial election.

The bill, born of a 2009 recommendation from Quebec’s College of Physicians, would allow terminally ill adults who are in constant pain and experiencing rapid declines to request that a doctor administer to them a lethal dose of medication.

The Parti Québécois government has spurned the term euthanasia in favour of “medical aid in dying” — casting it as an exceptional last step in a suite of palliative-care services for those in the last stages of life.

One final debate on the measure is expected this week and a vote could come as early as Thursday, making Quebec the first province to legalize euthanasia. If vote can’t be held, the bill could fall victim to a likely election call by Premier Pauline Marois in early March following a two-week break of the national assembly.

“We’re very confident because from the beginning, in all the steps that this has gone through over four years, it’s always been collaborative and without partisanship,” said Laurie Comtois, an aide to Social Services Minister Veronique Hivon. “It’s completely realistic to think that it could be adopted this week.”

Passing the law won’t end the controversy, as the flourish of opposition in the last few weeks has shown. The most notable element in the campaign opposing the legislation was an appeal by Jessica Saba, a four-year-old Montreal girl born with a heart defect, asking the king of Belgium not to give his final approval to a law in that country approving euthanasia for children.

Last week the Belgian parliament passed legislation that would extend euthanasia to children under the age of 18 who were suffering from an unbearable and irreversible physical condition, a controversial move cast as a gesture of humanity for terminally ill youngsters.

Dr. Paul Saba, Jessica’s father, a Montreal physician and leader of the Coalition for Physicians for Social Justice, says he fears what would happen to others like his daughter in countries that allow euthanasia for children.

The point of the campaign, he says, is that Quebec right now is where Belgium was when euthanasia was first legalized in 2002.

“Whereas it was initially for physical suffering it has now been expanded to people with depression without any life-threatening disease and even to people who were tired of life . . . as well as the spouse,” Saba said.

Belgium, which has a population of 11 million (Quebec has eight million people), had 235 euthanasia cases in 2003, the first full year that it was legal. Three quarters of those patients had been diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder.

By 2011, the last full year for which official figures have been made available, there were 1,133 euthanasia deaths, 75 per cent of them cancer patients.

Saba predicted that just as Quebec will follow the Belgian model, other provinces in Canada and around the world will follow Quebec.

“Jean Chrétien used to say that we’re the best place in the world to live,” he said. “Imagine what developing countries faced with millions of children who have congenital diseases and life-threatening diseases will do in order to save (money) or in order to balance their budget. This is a very dangerous precedent.”

Saba’s stance is a minority view, according to most opinion polls. The Quebec Medical Association found 66 per cent of its members in favour of allowing euthanasia in the province. That support has been reflected throughout the province, according to surveys going back to 2010.

Hivon has said that the Quebec health system will need up to 18 months before it can be offered to patients, meaning sometime in 2015. That timeline presumes that the law would not be subject to a legal challenge, which could slow down implementation by several years as it works its way through the court system.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.